Wednesday 28 November 2018

ACCC Franchising Try On


Stronger penalties required for franchising codes and UCT laws The ACCC is making a very strong play for increased penalties for contraventions of the Franchising Code of Conduct. I must admit I don't quite understand the ACCC's reasoning. Is the ACCC claiming they need bigger penalties because they have been taking lots of franchising cases to court and securing very small penalties which are failing to achieve general deterrence? Recent ACCC outcomes do not support this view: Fastway - $9000 paid pursuant to infringement notice Pastacup - $100,000 paid by consent Domino's - $18,000 pursuant to two infringement notices Ultratune and Geowash - still before the courts The more significant issue is that the ACCC has only pursued 26 franchising cases over the last 15 years, despite receiving 12,640 franchising complaints over the same period. The ACCC needs to ramp up the number of enforcement actions it is taking in the franchising sector and also to make sure that it is taking action against larger, national franchisors with high brand recognition. Having said that, I guess having access to bigger penalties may incentivise the ACCC to pick up its game in the area of Franchising Code enforcement.

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